30 College

HERE’S SOMETHING that will scare the freakin’ shit out of you. Go off time traveling in the body of an ancient wolf and when you get back home, realize that you’re still in him and looking at yourself—only you’re not home. I could feel my consciousness split. I was in Wolf. I was aware of myself.

My hand was on Kyle’s arm to stop him from shooting. Blackfeather, still echoing his call, swooped in and sat on Kyle’s rifle. Wolf sat on his haunches and began to snarl-bark.

Kyle turned and went pale.

“Ramie, let go of my arm. We’ve got wolf-company behind us. Get your gun, sister.” My hand tightened on Kyle’s arm. I didn’t turn. “Ramie?” Wolf started snarl-barking again. I could feel my voice giving shape to Wolf’s thoughts.

“I will thin my pack and teach my pups. We will abide in this land and share it for generations to come and generations past. We will avoid the man-lands and shepherd the prey. We will protect the land.”

Apparently, Blackfeather figured Kyle had seen enough. He called with his knocking voice and I could see Kyle change. He was time traveling. Blackfeather cawed again and I was in my own body. I turned to look at Wolf. He stood and shook himself. We heard the pack howling in the valley below. Wolf approached the overhang where Kyle and I were watching the pack. He sniffed Kyle up one side and down the other and then did the same to me. He licked the scars on my throat. They burned.

“Thank you for the ride,” I said. “I think that’s your new pack down there. You’ve got to lie low. They’re being hunted. Even by me. I’ll see you around.”

The paw he placed on my chest nearly covered it. He didn’t push me but just held the paw there, right over the necklace of wolves’ teeth.

“We are one spirit.” The words echoed in my head and I felt my senses heightened.

Wolf looked out over the valley to where we could still see the wolves moving south. He lifted his head and gave a howl that almost left me deaf. Wolf leapt over our shoulders and down toward the valley below.

Blackfeather, still perched on Kyle’s gun, cawed and Kyle snapped back to himself. He jerked around to look for the wolf. I pointed down the hill. We could see him leap occasionally as he sprinted toward the pack.

“That wolf, Ramie. He was ... he was talking to us.”

“I don’t think everybody in that pack is going to be happy to see him,” I said. “Good luck, Wolf.”

The kids saw us about the time we crested the last rise before the slope down to the ranch. They pushed the horses they were riding up the hill and met us half-way.

“Did you kill them?” Caitlin asked excitedly.

“Where’s the teeth?” Phile added.

“You’re back sooner than we expected,” Caitlin continued, without giving us a chance to answer either question.

“We heard them howling two nights ago. Everyone was up all night and patrolling in pairs.”

Pa and Moms were standing on the porch when we rode into the yard waiting for us. They stepped out to meet us and help us take the gear off the mule and horses, and make sure they were well-tended before we went in the house and sat down at the table. Smelling a kettle of Mom Mar’s chili cooking set my stomach rumbling.

“That smells so good!” Kyle moaned. “Can we eat now?”

“I wasn’t planning to starve you,” Mom Mar said. “Sit down.” She started ladling chili into bowls and put crackers on the table for us.

“That’s so much better than trail rations,” I sighed.

“And the wolves?” Mom Ash said, getting straight to the point. Kyle looked to me, and I took a deep breath and looked at Kyle. He looked down and shoveled another spoonful of chili in his mouth. Big help.

“The problem is over,” I said with finality. “There are still wolves, but they won’t be bothering us again.”

“What do you mean they won’t be bothering us again?” Caitlin demanded. “Are they dead? If I see a wolf near our horses, I’ll shoot it, no matter what.” Phile reached over and touched her arm.

Pa nodded and stood up. I knew we were headed to his office and I’d have to say more, but for now it was over.

“Don’t forget they are Ramie and Kyle’s horses. They’ve got a lot at stake here. If Ramie says they won’t bother us, believe it. Don’t go looking for trouble,” he reprimanded Caitlin. “We’ll talk in the office.”

I hedged a lot, but Pa wasn’t too demanding. When I told him Blackfeather had arranged a leader that would teach the pack, he and Moms just shrugged. They let us off. We headed out to call Aubrey.

We’d missed being with Aubrey on Christmas and on New Year’s Eve, but we still had three weeks before classes started and we were determined to make the most of them. An hour after we’d called, the three of us were piled into the seat of Kyle’s truck and headed for Roxie’s Bistro for dinner. Aubrey was squirming between us. With Kyle focused on driving, she turned her lips to me and I got lost in her kiss.

“I’m so sorry we missed all the holiday with you,” I whispered as I petted and kissed her.

“Hmmpff. Next time the two of you want to take off for a romantic getaway in the mountains for a week, give me a little advanced warning. I might have been able to arrange an affair while you were gone,” she said.

“Aubrey! You wouldn’t, would you, baby?” I pled.

“Aubs, we weren’t having any romantic getaway,” Kyle added. “No place either of us wanted to be as much as beside you.”

“That’s for sure. Freezing your ass off in a tent and eating trail rations three times a day is not what I call romantic,” I added. “Aubrey, would you really have an affair?”

“Don’t be silly,” she whispered, as she kissed me again. “Kyle, get this thing parked so I can kiss you. I’m not even sure I want dinner before we make love.”

Kyle obeyed pretty quickly and before we got out of the truck we’d all had another round of kissing. We got to Roxie’s and all smashed in on one side of a booth.

“It’s pretty bad when a girl has two lovers and still gets left alone,” she sighed as we waited for our food. “You really weren’t having a ... romantic getaway together?” she asked.

“No, Aubs. Is that what you were really afraid of? Kyle and I both love you, but we’re not into each other like that.”

“We love each other, but we’re brother and sister. You are our lover,” Kyle added. He glanced at me for confirmation. Aubrey held one of our hands in each of hers and pulled them up to her lips.

“Sometimes I get worried,” she said. “I don’t know anybody who has a relationship like we do. I can’t talk to anybody. I tried talking to my parents. They are supportive of my lifestyle as much as possible, but they don’t really understand it and don’t want to know the details. They just want to believe that Kyle is my boyfriend and Ramie is my best buddy. They have acknowledged that Kyle and I are living together and practicing to make them grandchildren. They really don’t want to think about you getting your face between my legs, Ramie,” she giggled.

“Damn. That talk always gets me hot,” Kyle moaned. The back of my hand brushed his as we ran them up the inside of Aubrey’s legs. We were going to get her out of those jeans as quick as possible when we got home.

“That’s just it,” Aubrey said. “You both get off when I’m with the other. You both really love me for me?” We kind of knocked heads as we both dove in to kiss her. I let Kyle go first but he yielded her lips to me and I kept them until our food arrived.

There was a lot of squealing and a lot of coming in our apartment that night, and every night for the next two weeks. Kyle and I were both determined to knock our little dynamo’s socks off. Whatever we could dish out, she could take and give back more. When I first got Kyle and Aubrey together, I never dreamed what a sexpot she was. She never wore clothes in the apartment and I kind of lost my inhibitions after I’d seen Kyle’s bare butt enough times, when he was carrying her to me, or I was carrying her to him. Aubrey’s nearly a foot shorter than Kyle and eight inches shorter than me. Either one of us can carry her around and she loves it.